Crime and Deviance Theorists

All the crime and deviance theorists I could find.

?

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

HEIDENSOHN

  • The behaviour of women is conformist.
  • There are three outlets controlling their behaviour:
    • The Home: Caring for children and a home restrict the behaviour of women.
    • In Public: Women fear male violence.
    • At Work: Women are kept in place by male supervisors.
  • Women are treated more harshly than men when they deviate from gender norms.
  • 4/5 convicted offender in England and Wales are male.
  • Men are more likely to be reoffenders.
1 of 21

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

POLLACK

  • Men have a protective attitude towards women, resulting in the criminal justice system being more lenient towards them.
2 of 21

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

CARLEN

  • When women are put in prison, it is less for the severity of their crimes and is instead based more on the court's assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters.
  • Women are lead to conformity:
    • Class Deal: Women who work will be offered material rewards with a decent standard of living and leisure opportunites.
    • Gender Deal: Patriarchal ideology promises women material gain and emotional rewards from family life by conforming to a domestic gender role.
3 of 21

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

PARSONS

  • Gender roles in the traditional nuclear family case crime because boys are encouraged to be tough and aggressive, and are therefore more likely to take advantage of criminal opportunities.
4 of 21

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

DOBASH AND DOBASH

  • Violent attacks result from a male dissatisfaction with their wives' domestic duties.
  • Men exercise financial control by denying women sufficient funds for leisure activities.
5 of 21

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

ADLER

  • Liberation Thesis - As women become liberated from the control of their fathers, brothers and husbands, their crimes will become as serious as those of their male counterparts.
6 of 21

Gender Theories - Crime and Deviance

MESSERSCHMIDT

  • Masculinity is a social construct that men feel obliged to live up to.
  • This masculine image of toughness and aggressiveness causes them to commit crimes.
7 of 21

New Right Theories - Crime and Deviance

MURRAY

  • The crime rate is increasing because of the failure of the underclass (defined by their deviant behaviour) to properly socialise their children.
  • The welfare state allows people to depend on benefits, so causing a breakdown in marriage and an increase in lone-parent families,which cause crime and deviance.
8 of 21

New Right Theories - Crime and Deviance

CLARKE

  • Situational crime prevention does not improve society; it only attempts to reduce opportunities for crime.
  • It is directed at specific crimes.
9 of 21

New Right Theories - Crime and Deviance

WILSON AND KELLIG

  • "Broken Window Theory"
    • Broken windows stand for the various signs of disorder and a lack of concern that is found in some neighbourhoods.
  • Solution: Adopt a zero-tolerance policy, coming down harshly on smaller crimes to prevent the larger ones.
10 of 21

New Right Theories - Crime and Deviance

HERRNSTEIN AND MURRAY

  • The main cause of crime is low intelligence.
11 of 21

New Right Theories - Crime and Deviance

FELSON

  • For a crime to occur, there must be a motivated offender, a suitable victim and the absence of a "capable guardian" such as the police.
12 of 21

State Crime Theories - Crime and Deviance

MCLAUGHLIN

  • There are four categories of state crime:
    • Political Crime
    • Crimes by security and police forces
    • Economic Crimes
    • Social and Cultural Crimes.
13 of 21

State Crime Theories - Crime and Deviance

COHEN

  • "Spiral of State Denial"
    • It didn't happen.
    • If it did happen it is something else.
    • Even if it is what you say it is it's justified.
14 of 21

State Crime Theories - Crime and Deviance

CARSON

  • In a sample of 200 firms, it was found that they had all broken health and safety laws at least once, yet only 1.5% of these cases resulted in a prosecution.
15 of 21

Labelling Theories - Crime and Deviance

BRAITHWAITE

  • There is a more positive role for the labelling process.
  • "Reintegrative" shaming - Labels the act and not the person.
16 of 21

Labelling Theories - Crime and Deviance

YOUNG

  • Study into marijuana users in Notting Hill.
  • Initially, the drugs were only taken by the hippies and were insignificant.
  • As convictions occured, they retreated into closed groups and drugs became a central activity.
17 of 21

Labelling Theories - Crime and Deviance

LEMERT

  • Primary and Secondary Deviance:
    • Primary - Deviant acts that have not been publically labelled.
    • Secondary - Result of societal labelling.
  • Master status - Controlling identity, such as mother or drug addict.
18 of 21

Labelling Theories - Crime and Deviance

PILIAVIN AND BRIAR

  • The decisions made by the police to arrest a youth were based mainly on phsyical cues such as their clothes, gender or ethnicity along with the time and place.
19 of 21

Labelling Theories - Crime and Deviance

DOWNES AND ROCK

  • Not everyone who is labelled will follow a deviant career.

Links to self-negating prophecies.

20 of 21

Labelling Theories - Crime and Deviance

COHEN

  • Folk devils and moral panics
    • "Folk devils" - a person or group of people prejudiced against because of a crime associated with their social status or subculture.
    • "Moral panic" - when a crime is taken out of proportion by the press, causing the general society to "panic" over it and think there is an influx in it.
  • Amplification of crime:
21 of 21

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Sociology resources:

See all Sociology resources »See all Crime and deviance resources »